Air volume regulator



May 1, 1934 J. M. FRANK AIR VOLUME REGULATOR Filed July 24, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ham Jahmi J7 11111771 y 1934 J. M. FRANK AIR VOLUME REGULATOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 24 1929 3 0 7 6 a 2 I 1 $392 E 5%: kwkom bfid kwm '90 100 (fill? VOLUME), (m PEI? CENT OF Norm 1 FH/V sreza) PER GENT EHTED CUB/G FEET PEI? MINUTE.

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Patented May 1, 1934 i I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE AIR VOLUME REGULATOR John M. Frank, Winnetka, Ill., assignor to Ilg Electric Ventilating Company, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Louisiana Application July 24, 1929, Serial No. 380,475

2 Claims. (Cl. 230-114) My invention relates broadly to ventilating deapparent to those skilled in the art as the devices and has to do more particularly with means scription p ceedsfor regulating the air volume output of blowers Refe ing HOW to the draw s forming p when directing a current of air into an enclosure. of the specification and illustrating a preferred Ventilating devices, as ordinarily used in comb e t of my t 60 mercial establishments, such as restaurants and Fig. 1 represents a side elevational view of a the like, are frequently required for service only blower embodying my invention. at special rus hours which may be definitely Fig. 2 is a front elevational view of the means fixed. Between these hours there is usually a lull for controlling the an output of the device shown in patronage and, hence, the requirement for in Fig. 1; 65 the ventilating apparatus ceases. As usually in- Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken substantially stalled, the ventilators must be turned on and off on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2; by manual operation of a switch or the like, and, Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken in the event that the person whose duty it is to substantially on the line 44 of Fig. 2, with the operate the ventilator forgets to turn it off at the shutters in closed position; 7 end of a rush period, the result is an unusually Fig. 5 is a detailed view on a large scale of high amount of wear on the equipment as well a modified arrangement of the shutter controlling as a power loss. means.

An object of my invention, therefore, is to Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken on the line I provide aventilating device of the type referred 6-6 of Fig. 5, and to, in combination with means for automatically Fig. '7 is a curve showing the relation between controlling the air output thereof at predeterpower input and volume of air.- mined fixed hours. Referring first to Figure 1, the blower here Ventilating devices'of the type referred to are illustrated may be supported from a floor 10 25 subjected to a diversity of requirements with reor other suitable support by means of legs 12 gard to air output, depending upon weather mm which may be secured by means bf bolts 13, or ditions, the number of occupants within the enother suitable means, to a casing indicated at closure to be ventilated, etc; As ordinarily in- 15. This casing comprises a pair of side walls stalled, blowers are provided with variable speed 16 and a more or less spirally-shaped'wall 17. 3o motors, which are usually arranged for belt drive. Arranged on the casing 15 and supported there- However, the cost of such equipment is high, and on by means of brackets 19 or the like is a moit therefore, a further object of my tion tor indicated at 21, which may be of any suitto provide a blower which may be operated by able type, preferably electrical, which actuates a constant speed motor of any suitable type and a fan wheel (not shown). The motor 21 is pref- 35 to vary the air output of such blower by means erably of a constant speed type, inasmuch as independent of the motor. this type is less expensive than one of variable st another object is t provide such speed and also results in better operating charvice whereby the air output may be controlled by acteristics at ed ced loads, and is especially means which will create a back pressure within adapted for devices embodying my nvention. 40 the blower which pressure will 85861; a decrease The casing 15 thus defines a substantially spiral 9 air passageor channel indicated at 23 in Figure m the load of the motor and? consequegt saving 1. Secured to the casing 15 at the outer end of otpowerthis spiral passage 23 1s a tubular frame 25 sub- Another object is to provide new and Improved stantially in the shape of a rectangular paral- Z for h1g1? over an emciencles lelepiped, comprising a top plate 26, a bottom m e s devme operating at less than no!- plate 27, and side plates 28 and 29. The side mal capacity. plates are preferably flanged over as at 30, which Still another object is to provide such a device flanges may be secured to the top and bottom which will be incapable of fully'shutting ofi the plates by means of solder, welding, rivets, or air output, so that as long as the motor is op other suitable means. Secured tothe inside of 1 a a deg e of Ventilation Will result the side plates 28 and 29 by any suitable means A fu h r bj t i to Provide in device 0! are bars 32. These bars are apertured at spaced the type referred to efficient stream-line blades intervals to receive pintles 35 which serve to to reduce eddy currents of air to a minimum. rotatably mount a plurality of vanes or shut 55 Various other objects and advantages will be ters 37.

The blades or shutters 37, as shown best'in Figures 3 and 4, are preferably of hollow constructionand are .preferably of stream line contour in order to reduce the friction of air pass- 5 ing over them, as well as the losses due to the eddying of the air as it passes the blades, and are mounted on rods 38 which terminate in the pintles 35. The shutters 37 have at their extremities angular flanges 40 which are adapted to seat snugly against the bar. 32 when the shutters are arranged in their extreme closed position, as shown in Figure 4. At one side of the frame 25, say on the side adjacent the plate28,' a bar 42 extends longitudinally. of the side plate and has a plurality of laterally extending ears 43 piyotally secured to the flanges 40 of the shutters. -Attached to the pintle 35 of one of the shutters is'a crank 45 having a handle 46. Preferably integral with the crank 45, as in the form of a bell crank or the like, is a crank or lever preferably connected to a connecting rod 51, which is secured to' an armature 53 of a solenoid 55. This solenoid is connected with an electrical conduit 56 which may lead from a time switch of any type well known in the art or from a thermostatic switch or other suitable device. The crank 50 is also pivotally connected to a solenoid which is connected by means. of an electrical conduit 57 to a source of current.

In the operation of the device described above, themotor 21 is connected to any suitable source of energy .(not shown) and is started when ventilation is desired. The motor sets up a current of air through the spiral passage 16, which, when the vanes -37 are open as shown in Figures 2 and 3, is directed out into the enclosure with a minimum of friction and eddying because of the stream-line'design of the vanes.

When it is desired to reduce the amount of air issuing from the blower to a desired minimum, one of the solenoids, say the solenoid 55, is actuated by means of a suitable electric switch. The solenoid will move the crank 50 about its pivot which results in simultaneous movement of all the shutters by means of their pivotal connection to the bar 42. The time switch (not shown) meanwhile is set to close the shutters at a definite time, and, when the switch is actuated,-the solenoid 55' controlled thereby operates to rotate the crank 50 and close the. shutters. Similarly, the time switch may be set to open the shutters at.a predetermined time or times. Furthermore, the shutters may be. operated, if de-' to the shutters.

It will be noted that the shutters 37, when in their extreme closed position, as shown in Figure 4, do not entirely out 0d the flow of air out of the blower. In my preferred embodiment, the shutters in their extreme closed. position cut 01! only about fifty per cent of the. total flow.

1 1 and other obnoxious noises.

sired, by pneumatic means or by a motor geared Figures 5 and 6 show an embodiment which is substantially,similar to that described above, except that in this embodiment means is provided for adjustably limiting the extreme open or closed positions of the shutters. Secured to the frame 25 is a slotted arcuate plate 60, in the slot of whichis arranged a boss 62 adjustably secured to the plate by means of a. bolt and wing nut 64. Fixed bosses 65 and 65' may be provided adjacent the extremities of the am. It will be readily apparent that if the blades 37"are in the position indicated in dotted lines in Figure 5 in their extreme closed position, they may be prevented from opening further than a predetermined amount by adjustment of the boss 62 in the slot. It will be apparent that a second similar boss may be provided for limiting the extreme closed position of the blades if desired.

Furthermore, the blades may be arranged for manual control by means of the crank 45 and handle 46 merely by providing a wing nut adjustably' secured in the slot in the arcuate member 60.

It will be seen that the air volume is controlled according to my invention by means independent of the motor, and, as a matter of fact, an actual saving in power output is accomplished as the air output is decreased, as shown by the curve. in Figure 7. This curve shows actual experimental results with devices embodying my invention. is explained by reason of the fact that as the pressure is raised within the blower, this results in a decrease in the air volume output, which effects a'proportional decrease in the load on the motor.

Obviously, many variations ofimy invention will readily appear to those skilled in the art, and I do not wish to be limited to the specific forms disclosed or uses mentioned except as set 115 forth in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a device of the class described, a rotar blower, means for conducting air from said blower along a channel, means for controlling the volumetric air output of said blower and for simultaneously varying the load on said blower, said means comprising a plurality of shutters interposed in said channel, saidshutters being blower along a channel, means for controlling JOHN M. FRANK. 

